The ICC convicts a former rebel leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The International Criminal Court on Friday convicted a rebel leader of charges including murder and looting over a deadly attack on a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, but acquitted him of rape, sexual slavery and using child soldiers.Germain Katanga was convicted of being an accessory to an attack on Bogoro that took place on 24 February 2003, killing more than 200 people in Ituri province in the north-eastern part of the vast country. The judges at the Hague-based court said he had helped supply the weapons used in the attack but they acquitted him of direct involvement. Katanga, nicknamed Simba, is only the second person convicted since the court was established in 2002. He was transferred to The Hague by the Congolese authorities in 2007 and has denied the charges against him.The fighting in Ituri, which broke out in 1999 and continued until 2003, started as a struggle for control of land and resources. It later escalated into an inter-ethnic war, worsened by the presence of Uganda troops. That conflict killed an estimated 50,000 people.(Friday 7 March)